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[ARC REVIEW] ‘Listen To Your Heart’ By: Kasie West

Official Synopsis:

Talking to other people isn’t Kate Bailey’s favorite activity. She’d much rather be out on the lake, soaking up the solitude and sunshine. So when her best friend, Alana, convinces Kate to join their high school’s podcast, Kate is not expecting to be chosen as the host. Now she’ll have to answer calls and give advice on the air? Impossible.

But to Kate’s surprise, she turns out to be pretty good at the hosting gig. Then the podcast gets in a call from an anonymous guy, asking for advice about his unnamed crush. Kate is pretty sure that the caller is gorgeous Diego Martinez, and even surer that the girl in question is Alana. Kate is excited for her friend … until Kate herself starts to develop feelings for Diego. Suddenly, Kate finds that while doling out wisdom to others may be easy, asking for help is tougher than it looks, and following your own advice is even harder.

Kasie West’s adorable story of secrets, love, and friendship is sure to win over hearts everywhere.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Review:

Kasie West is back at it again with a cute, contemporary summer read. Granted, the book takes place at the start of the school year. But still. Anyway, I fell in love with the premise of this book. I’ve been wanting to start a podcast for a while, (and actually have a school project to do an episode right now…) so this book was right up my alley. Any Kasie book is up my alley, obviously, but you know what I mean.

I loved the friendship dynamic between Kate and her best friend, Alana. They never let boys come between them, and it was a healthy relationship. They always looked out for each other, and I loved seeing how supportive they were towards each other. I also liked seeing how Kate’s friendship with Frank progressed. Also, the initial scene between Diego and Kate with the magazines is so totally adorable. Ugh. I loved it. Super cute.

I also liked how close Kate was with her brother, Max, and her cousins, specifically Liza. Their banter back and forth was great. Their family marina, and Kate’s love of the lake, was fun to read about. The family dynamic/living situation was really unique, but still very supportive.

The podcast was awesome. I would have loved to have a podcasting class in high school, and it’s a unique, contemporary twist on doing a book with a radio show. I would’ve liked if Victoria, Kate’s co-host, would’ve become better friends with Kate. Which isn’t exactly realistic, but it would have been nice to see them interact at some point outside of the podcast setting.

This book is a slow burn romance. Like, hella slow burn. I could already tell pretty early on what direction the plot twist was heading in, but it would’ve been nice to see Kate and her love interest actually be together at the end of the book a little longer than they were.

Overall, this book is really good, and I loved that Kate’s friendships were very central to the story. You won’t regret picking this one up! It will be released by Point on May 29.

Connect with the author!

You can follow Kasie West on Twitter at @kasiewest and on Instagram at @kasiewest!